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We will be contenders until half way through the season when our offensive line starts to get injured, Woodley pulls his hamstring and Worilds has an injury and we have Chris Carter and Robinson starting at OLB, and Troy starts his annual sweatpants modeling gig on the sideline with a calf injury. Then Tomlin will say the standard is the standard and after another .500 season finishes he will say injuries are part of the game and Colbert will act like the media and fans are morons for having the gumption to say something is wrong.

Sounds like alot of the same (of the last two years). You may very well be right..

The one big mistake was letting James go, but Worilds will roll. Allen's way better than Lewis and Ike and Big Play Gay's a good cat to bring back into the fold. The big question on D for me is can the DLine step up? Can we live without Casey? Those are the biggest shoes to fill.

On O, we'll be fine. Dwyer's got something to prove and will get in shape and start dominating running behind Adams and DD. Sanders is gonna take it to another level and Plax is gonna get his game legs back and score 10+ TDs in the Red Zone.

Actually, let's just get another punter. I can live with Sushi for now if Tomlin agrees not to trot him out for 45-55+ yard FGs.

We are not contenders. If you think this team is "top tier" then you have serious Steelers blinders on. This team is barely the 3rd most talented in the division let alone the most talented in the league.

Come on folks... take those Steelers blinders off. This team is not a legit contender.

We are not contenders. If you think this team is "top tier" then you have serious Steelers blinders on. This team is barely the 3rd most talented in the division let alone the most talented in the league.

Come on folks... take those Steelers blinders off. This team is not a legit contender.

The Steelers played salary-cap roulette once again, furiously spinning their financial wheels by reworking contract after contract to get into NFL compliance. They watched Mike Wallace, Keenan Lewis and Rashard Mendenhall walk away in free agency.

They don't have a certifiable go-to receiver or a feature running back. The secondary is aging. Their former ace pass rusher, James Harrison, might oppose Ben Roethlisberger twice every season. And there are so many lineup holes, they can't possibly fill them in the upcoming draft.

And Roethlisberger, in a flashback to his rookie season of nine years ago, might find himself regularly throwing to Plaxico Burress, one of the few experienced receivers still left on the roster.

Did a team that is universally considered to be one of the NFL's best-managed falter this offseason?

“They've had some difficult decisions, and people are getting caught up in all the action,” said NFL Network analyst Jamie Dukes, a longtime NFL lineman. “But they're not looking just at this year even though I know Steelers fans don't want to hear it.”

Still, multiple draft analysts give the Steelers a grade of D-minus or F in free agency, where their only pickup of note was backup quarterback Bruce Gradkowski.

With so little coming in — although running back Ahmad Bradshaw remains an option — the Steelers might need the best draft of general manager Kevin Colbert's tenure to avoid taking a huge step back.

Asked if the Steelers are a worse team than they were when the season ended, Colbert said recently: “I think only time will tell. We'll see where that goes. ... We hope that we are a better team.”

Dukes said he believes they can't be faulted for letting Wallace walk for $60 million, or not paying Harrison, which he calls “a recalibration of a bad money year on a contract.

“I wouldn't say they're blowing the offseason,” Dukes said. “There are some organizations you question, but this would not be one of those organizations. They've got to get their house in order.”

The Steelers began last year to shed older players who command higher wages — such as James Farrior and Hines Ward and, now, Harrison — in favor of younger players who are more affordable and cap friendly.

It's a trend Dukes believes will continue.

“I don't look at what they're doing as a problem so much as it's a retooling,” he said.